“Have you seen this particular hair pin in anyone else’s hair recently?”
“Hell, I don’t know. Even if I had seen it, I wouldn’t remember. Lady Buntley always wears them sparkly things in her hair and around her neck. All the ladies do. I’ll be darned if I know one from the other, though.”
“Well, I remember this particular one because it fell out of Ottilie’s hair, and Hudsyn picked it up off the floor. It’s how he knew I had a woman with me.”
“Did he recognize it as belonging to his cousin?”
“Thankfully not. Although, if she has more of these at home, he might put two and two together. But that’s not my concern at the moment.”
“You think Miss Hamilton is in cahoots with your uncle?”
Jack bit his bottom lip. “I don’t know. But something is afoot, that much is certain.”
Brandt shook his head. “If he sent her to spy on you, he must have known you’d returned to England. How could he have known that?”
“Anything is possible. Someone in Dartmoor may have recognized me, or maybe he saw my likeness in the newspaper and recognized me himself. Hell, maybe he’s been spying on me all these years. I don’t know. But I intend to find out.”
“Dang it!” Brandt said.
“What happened to the copy of my uncle’s will? I didn’t get a chance to read it before you backhanded me.”
“It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been so fast on the draw.” Brandt reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a folded paper. “Good thing I had the foresight to pick it up off the floor where you left it.”
“Thank you.” Jack took the paper, unfolded the will, and scanned through it. “The entirety of my estate and effects shall pass to my eldest living male descendant,” he read aloud, “save twenty thousand pounds, bequeathed to my wife, and twenty-five thousand pounds bequeathed to the trustees of Canterbury Ladies’ College.”
Jack raised his eyes and met Brandt’s stare.
“How much did you tell her?” Brandt asked.
Jack closed his eyes. “Nothing about my uncle. But she knows about Wardell.”
“God dammit, Bastin! Did you tell her about the gold?”
“I only related his crimes and how we handled his comeuppance, that’s all.”
“So, your uncle knows you’re alive and in town. Changes everything, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t believe she will tell my uncle anything.”
“Then you’re a damn fool. Why do you think Sir Richard keeps the money flowing to that ladies’ college? It ain’t out of the goodness of his heart.”
Jack rubbed his forehead as if that could erase the confusion clouding his brain.This can’t be happening; there must be another explanation.“I’ll talk to her,” he said.
“You’ve done enough talking, Romeo. If your uncle finds out about the gold, we could be swinging from the end of a rope. It’s time for you to let little Miss Schoolmarm alone an’ take care of satisfying Lady Astyr’s needs. That way, your uncle will come to you, and then we can take care of things like we planned.”
Jack squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers.How could I have been such a fool? Hasn’t experience taught me anything? It’s been Brandt and me all these years; we knew to trust no one but each other. After a mere few months of Mayfair pampering, I let down my guard.
A hot shame clawed at his chest. He swung around and cleared the vanity with a swipe of his hand, sending the silver hairbrush, comb, and the array of hair pins crashing to the floor.
“Damn him!” He leaned his palms on the vanity and breathed hard. “Damn that blackguard straight to hell.”
Chapter Sixteen
In secret wemet—
In silence Igrieve,
That thy heart couldforget,
